Examining the career of Charles- Maurice de Talleyrand can be rather a daunting task because he is a character in our history books that is surrounded by the ideas of his times and in the government renovations that occurred in pre-revolutionary and then during the French Revolution. Due to the very nature of the changing ideas associated French Revolution itself and the quickness and the complexity of the evolution from one form of government to another, it becomes quite difficult analyze the performance of a man's service to his country when the nature of the entity of the country itself rapidly transforming. Leaders in this period were forced to make crucial decisions and as a result, most fell. But, Charles-Maurice Talleyrand proved to be a political survivor of the French Revolution, quite an amazing feat. Not only did he endure this radical government transformation, but also afterward, he was able to hold key diplomatic offices in the Directory, the Empire, the Bourbon Restoration, and the July Monarchy.
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, Prince de...
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, who serve...
Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-PérigordHe emerged as one of the most significant and clever diplomats of the late 18th and early 19th century. This master diplomat started his career serving as priest and then bishop for the Church of France in the in the Old Regime. The culmination of his acquired skills shined at their brightest at the Congresses of Vienna. Because Talleyrand's servitude to France spanned such a long period, it is impossible to cover all his actions and decisions within the confines of this paper. This paper then will look at Talleyrand's career from the eve of the 1789 Revolution until he was left the country in 1792 on his first semi- diplomatic mission. It is the purpose of this study to present enough evidence to illustrate the value of Talleyrand's service to France...